Kellogg leaned against her desk. “First, like the name of my unit suggests, we consider the members of a cult victims, which they certainly are. But we have to remember that they can be just as dangerous as the leader. Charles Manson wasn’t even present at the Tate-La Bianca killings. It was the members who committed the murders.

“Now, in speaking of the leader, I’ll tend to say ‘he,’ but women can be just as effective and as ruthless as men. And often they’re more devious.

“So here’s the basic profile. A cult leader isn’t accountable to any authority except his own. He’s always in charge one hundred percent. He dictates how the subjects spend every minute of their time. He’ll assign work and keep them occupied, even if it’s just busywork. They should never have any free time to think independently.

“A cult leader creates his own morality—which is defined solely as what’s good for him and what will perpetuate the cult. External laws are irrelevant. He’ll make the subjects believe it’s morally right to do what he tells them—or what he suggests. Cult leaders are masters at getting their message across in very subtle ways, so that even if they’re caught on a wiretap their comments won’t incriminate them specifically. But the subjects understand the shorthand.

“He’ll polarize issues and create conflicts based on them versus us, black and white. The cult is right and anyone who’s not in the cult is wrong and wants to destroy them.

“He won’t allow any dissent. He’ll take extreme views, outrageous views, and wait for a subject to question him—to test loyalty. Subjects are expected to give everything to him—their time, their money.”

Dance recalled the prison conversation, the $9,200. She said, “Sounds like the woman is financing Pell’s whole escape.”

Kellogg nodded. “They’re also expected to make their bodies available. And hand over their children sometimes.

“He’ll exercise absolute control over the subjects. They have to give up their pasts. He’ll give them new names, something he chooses. He’ll tend to pick vulnerable people and play on their insecurities. He looks for loners and makes them abandon their friends and family. They come to see him as a source of support and nurture. He’ll threaten to withhold himself from them—and that’s his most powerful weapon.